<h4>Chapter 347 Game Management</h4>


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    Rosenborg BK 2 (5) : Juventus FC 3 (4)


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    Silence reigned supreme throughout the entire stadium for a second or two. All spectators seemed to be stunned speechless by Roseborg''s swift and fierce counterattack.


    Boom!


    Then, the next moment, a mega explosion of cheers went off in the stands, shaking the entire Lerkendal Stadion to its very core. The Rosenborg supporters immediately rose from their seats and sang at the top of their voices like madmen when Zachary raised his arms to celebrate the goal right inside Juventus'' box.


    "Goaaaal! Zachary! *p*p* Rosenborg! Oyeeeee..."


    The raucous and disorderly voices chanting different phrases blended together with the loud pping and drumming to institute a beautiful wild symphony. For the next one minute or so, it rang around Lerkendal as the fans celebrated Zachary''s goal, which had just pushed the aggregate score to 5:4 in favor of Rosenborg. Since their team was on the cusp of qualifying for the quarter-finals, they couldn''t control their emotions.


    "What a beautiful counter!" Kjell Roar, thementator for the day, yelled after the cheers started dying down. "My heart is still racing as the counter keeps reying within my mind as if on rewind."


    "Yes, it was really a fierce and swift counter," Erik Hoftun, the in-house pundit for that match, chipped in. "There were only 13 to 14 seconds between when Zachary dispossessed Pogba and when he put the ball into the back of the. There wasn''t a second wasted in-between. What a counter! The Rosenborg fans will remember it for years if the goal can take them through to the quarter-finals."


    "The goal itself takes Zachary''s tally against Juventus to four goals," Kjell Roar said. "He scored a hattrick against them in Turin. Now he hasted another goal here at Lerkendal on top of providing an assist for the other. He''s like the bane of the Italian giants."


    Erik Hoftun chuckled. "I think that he is a disaster for every team in the Europa League. Ofte, he has managed to punish every opponent he has faced. Be it Fiorentina, Red Bull Salzburg, or Standard Liege — he has already scored against them all."


    "He sure is a terrifying attacker these days," Kjell Roar chimed in with an audible sigh. "Let''s take you back to the proceedings on the field as the match is about to restart."


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    Coach Johansen chose to make a substitution as his yers celebrated the goal. His intent was to waste a few more seconds and ensure that Juventus wouldn''t get the time to organize another offensive during the remaining two or so minutes of overtime.


    "Cristian Gamboa!" He said, turning towards the bench. "Prepare quickly. I want you on the pitch before the game restarts."


    "Aye, coach," Cristian replied.


    Coach Johansen nodded before returning his attention to the field of y. He was in a good mood. Zachary had pleasantly surprised him by scoring in the secondst minute of overtime. As a result, the fixture no longer required penalties to determine the winner. As long as his yers could continue defending well and survive the remaining two or three minutes, then it would be Rosenborg qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Europa League at the end of the grueling night.


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    After celebrating the goal, the Rosenborg yers returned to their half at a leisurely pace. They started taking up their on-pitch starting positions to ready themselves for the restart of the game without any sense of urgency. They wanted to waste more time, especially since they were already ahead by a goal when considering the aggregate score.


    Then, just as they''d finished organizing themselves and the game was finally about to restart, the linesman raised his g and motioned for a substitution. The fourth official followed that up with the action of putting up his board to indicate that Takumi Minamino, the Rosenborg number-22, was being subbed out.


    Takumi Minamino exchanged high fives with a few of his teammates before starting his leisurely trek toward the touchline. His pace was rtively slow since he was also waving to the enthusiastic home fans.


    The Juventus yers couldn''t tolerate Rosenborg''s tant attempts at wasting time. Giorgio Chiellini, the vice-captain of the Italian giants, soon rushed towards the referee and startedining. Antonio Conte was also already yelling at the fourth official on the sidelines, probably telling him to do something about Rosenborg''s unsportsmanlike behavior.


    With all the pressure mounting, the referee could only choose to rush toward Takumi Minamino and caution him.


    However, Takumi was a step ahead. The Japanese midfielder immediately ran out of the pitch and settled on the bench before the referee could catch up.


    The referee, however, didn''t give up. He chased Takumi down and showed him a yellow card right after he''d just settled on the bench.


    But the action itself irritated the Juventus yers and coaching staff as the referee had just wasted more time. And they ensured that he understood how they felt through moreints.


    The referee could only shake his head and smile ruefully before returning to the center and blowing the whistle to restart the game.


    After a good three minutes of celebrations and other interruptions, the game had finally restarted. Juventus kicked off the game and was soon on the attack once again.


    The Juventus yers exchanged a few short passes through the middle, searching for a goal-scoring opportunity. Finally, the ball naturally came to Andrea Pirlo, the deep-lying ymaker.


    Pirlo immediately skipped past Nicki Nielsen''s challenge before threading a pass to Pogba. Thetter received the ball and passed it to Vidal, who''d just run into the space ahead.


    Vidal controlled it with a sense of urgency before kicking it toward the right-wing to find Stephan Lichtsteiner, the highly-mobile wing-back.


    Stephan Lichtsteiner brought it down with his chest before trying to make a diagonal run towards Rosenborg''s box. But he soon ran into Kasongo''s blockade and could only choose to pass it back into the middle to Vidal.


    Vidal only took a single touch to circumvent past Thomas Partey on the left side of the border of the final third. Before any other opponent could close him down, he looped the ball over the defense and into the box.


    Fernando Llorente immediately leaped high to meet the cross within the box. He battled Yerry Mina, the Rosenborg center-back, for aerial superiority before nting a header towards goal from around the penalty spot.


    TENSION!


    The hearts of most of the spectators had already leaped into their throats. They shifted ufortably in their seats while watching the ball darting towards the top corner. But the next moment, they rxed when they saw the Rosenborg keeper leap high and snatch the ball out of the air.


    With a well-timed acrobatic dive, Daniel ?rlund, the Rosenborg keeper, had saved Rosenborg from conceding a goal in the 33rd minute of overtime. The keeper theny t on the ground for about ten seconds with the ball firmly held in his hands.


    "Ref!" Coach Johansen yelled out loud. "The thirty minutes of overtime are already over. Are we going to y for a week or a month before you remember to blow the final whistle?"


    However, the referee paid no heed to hisints and quickly motioned for Daniel ?rlund to restart the game.


    Daniel ?rlund, however, didn''t restart the game right away. He let a few seconds sh by before throwing the ball to Mikael Dorsin, Rosenborg''s left-back.


    Mikael controlled it well and immediately passed it to Thomas Partey, who also flicked it to Zachary.


    However, the Juventus yers had already flooded Rosenborg''s half and marked all spaces and passing angles when Zachary received the ball. He could only choose to pass the ball long and high to Nicki Nielsen, the center forward.


    Nicki Nielsen controlled the ball with his chest on the right nk. But instead of racing with it towards the goal, he dribbled it towards the corner g. He halted right before the corner arc before making himself big to shield it from the Juventus yers.


    The next second, the Juventus yers were upon him, trying to tackle the ball from his feet. However, Nicki Nielsen remained strong and stood his ground. He even spread his arms wide to prevent the opponents from getting to the ball.


    His intention to waste more time gained apuse from the tense home fans. But at the same time, he also infuriated the Juventus yers trying to win the ball back.


    After a few seconds of tussling before the corner g, Vidal couldn''t take it anymore. The midfielder raised his leg high and shoved Nicki Nielsen out of y with a kick to the butt.


    *FWEEEEEEE*


    The referee blew the whistle and rushed to the scene. He showed a yellow card to Vidal before awarding a free-kick to Rosenborg.


    Zachary chose to take the free-kick short as he didn''t wish to give Juventus an opportunity to attack during thest minute of the game. He passed it to Nicki, and thetter immediately dribbled it to the corner g again.


    The Juventus yers swarmed toward him the next moment to tackle the ball from his feet. However, the referee''s whistle sounded the next moment, bringing the proceedings for the night to a stop. The game had finally ended after 35 minutes of overtime.


    BOOM!


    The cheers immediately hit a crescendo an instantter as the Rosenborg yers began running around the pitch to celebrate their victory. They had finally aplished an almost impossible feat by eliminating Juventus, the Italian giant, from the Europa League after more than 120 minutes of gamey. As a result, they could hardly contain their delight.